Audra McDonald nominated for Black Reel Award for SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE — Page 2

Yes, and I'm also gay by the way. Not that that is something to be awarded for......

But apparently to some people it is. Poor straight actors, especially in the musical theatre world. Gays are dominating that world, just like black people are almost dominating the music indusry in the mainstream awards. Or at least the 1 in 10 population rate (10% of Americans is black), is much bigger in that industry.

"Every person you listed Dave has also received accolades from black media and organizations." Ehm yes, so what's your point? That it's necessary?

"Oh screw it! Let's just get rid of the Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys. We should just have one award to recognize achievement across all media."
Why? It's great to give people awards based on their outstanding performances in different areas of the business. Acting in a film can not be compared to singing a hitsong. Are you telling me that a black person can not be compared to a white person? Ouch. Let's organize the red head awards next! Because clearly they are not normal people.

Updated On: 1/8/14 at 11:58 AM

“In the early 2000s,” states a piece in The Hollywood Reporter, “blacks played 15% of roles in film and TV. Today, it has fallen to 13%"

12% of the American population is black. A healthy situation would be the same percentage. Is there some reason why this percentage must be higher in the film industry?

If you ask me, we would have to lower that percentage to 12%, to be fair to the amount of white actors out there. Or is this "% throwing" only allowed from one side? Let's keep it fair shall we?

Updated On: 1/8/14 at 12:21 PM

Well, African Americans make up approximately 80% of those incarcerated, so maybe we need to figure out how to reduce that to only 12%. That's fair, right?


Representation is not about perfect proportions: it's about making sure talented actors get matched with quality parts. It's ALSO about minority actors not only getting cast in roles defined by their race.

There was a great blog post a few months ago responding to an idiotic blog post about diversity on SNL. I would suggest reading it, Dave19. I think it touches on some of the issues coming up here.
SNL. Liz Belsky. And not getting it.

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You should stop. You really should stop.

No, we should live in reality and stop walking on egg shells.

Updated On: 1/8/14 at 01:16 PM

Wash your mouth, read back and reply again.
What kind of brainwashed creature are you?

Yes, double standards keep things difficult. And yes, I will stop because I made my point, and hope that people will think about it, instead of sticking their head into the sand immediately whenever the "race" thing comes up, just like you choose to do.

*sigh* Lord help us lol!!

"in my opinion we should not look at color at all"

"a black mother superior in pre world war 2 was unthinkable"

Just stop.

I did "READ". I've been reading this entire thread and I was dead set on not responding to you because I find your entire argument pretty nonsensical. Why are awards like these in place and why do people fight for representation? Really? In this case, it's because African-Americans have been oppressed and dehumanized since the very founding of this country and unfortunately residual discrimination still exist. Yes, even in the entertainment industry.

It's not a double standard to have the "Black Reel Awards" when there are no "White Reel Awards", it's a celebration of people who have historically been oppressed. I feel like your argument is one step away from calling this racism towards white people.

Slavery isn't fair. Racism isn't fair. Life is not fair. Deal with it.

Can you explain to me then what gives people the right to demand more than others?

Updated On: 1/8/14 at 09:44 PM

Dave19:

I'm a young black person.

Firstly, I must applaud you for airing your views on the Race Problem. Many white Americans aren't anywhere near as candid.

That said: the last thing that I--or anyone that looks like me--needs, is "advice" from someone who, by accident of birth, will never, ever walk a day in my shoes.

To presume, even jokingly, that you, and you alone, have the answer to this society's ills is not only condescending in the extreme, it is also presumptuous and accomplishes nothing aside from revealing your shocking ignorance.

I'm uncertain why you're so angry that black America has the audacity to honor one of its great artists, seeing as how these awards have no effect on you, your life, or your people, in any way whatsoever. I don't understand your hostility at all. Do you get this pissed off about Asian American awards? Or, say, the Latin Grammys? Are you pissed when they honor THEIR great artists?

And you say that everyone should just be looked at as human beings, but unfortunately everyone does not have that luxury:

There was a study done recently that strongly suggested that white Americans, on average, feel less empathy for black Americans--the assumption being that, because we are supposedly adjusted to hardship, we feel less pain. This has ramifications in the realms of medicine and psychotherapy, where mis-diagnoses or misappropriation of medicines such as pain killers disproportionately affect black patients.

If you do some research you will find stories about black job applicants who have to anglicize their names on their resumes, in order to increase their chances of snagging an interview; you will find others who choose to leave the Historically Black College they attended off their resumes for the same reason. You will find articles about experiments where thousands of identical resumes are sent out, where researchers find that white job applicants with criminal records receive TWICE the number of call-backs as black job applicants with CLEAN records.

Perhaps you've heard about the NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" policy, about which former commissioner Ray Kelly has gone on record saying he wants to strike fear into Black and Latino men. You snidely deride those who use statistics, but there's a widely visible report showing that police stopped, proportionally, more black men than actually make up the population of black men in NYC. And the number of arrests were miniscule.

I have been shrunken back from in elevators. I have been asked to show ID, when white colleagues were not. I have been stopped by police. I have been followed in department stores. Despite being described as a strikingly good-looking man, who has been pursued by, and dated, all types of women, I've been told by white colleagues that because I'm black I should only date black girls.

I haven't even touched on the entertainment industry. But the above indicates that doctors, employers, law enforcement officials, strangers and even close colleagues, see me as "Black" before they see me as a person. I have no control over that behavior whatsoever, outside of being born, not I nor any of my people have done anything to deserve this kind of treatment.

So, Dave19, while I applaud your passion, that we should all be looked at as human beings, and therefore there should be no divisions amongst us, please understand that your whiteness grants you the privilege to avoid the microaggressions and indignities that many non-white people suffer on a daily basis; thus, you are in NO position to judge a group of people that decide to briefly rise above the muck, unite together, and celebrate the ones that--somehow, beating all the odds--made it.

Take your hostility towards black people--because clearly, it's in there--and go f*ck yourself.